Dog owners are required to keep their animals restrained when in public. Various leash designs have been developed to allow a dog walker to adjust the length of the leash depending on the environment being traveled. For example, in less populated areas, a dog walker may desire a longer leash length to allow the animal greater room to roam. In contrast, urban city environments are replete with both enticements and hazards to the dog, and a walker may desire a shorter leash length to keep tighter control over the animal. In addition, during the course of a typical urban walk, the dog alternately passes through areas requiring more animal control (shorter leash length), and less animal control (longer leash length). Particularly in an urban environment, the walker needs a strong and secure leash regardless of leash length due to the close proximity of other dogs, people and vehicles.
Some adjustable leash designs provide advantages while simultaneously creating potential hazards to both the walker and dog. Examples include leashes that require unclipping and re-clipping to make the leash shorter, and designs that create slack in the leash that hangs down. The former designs (requiring two-handed manipulation of clips, slides and the like) require the user to remove his/her hand from the primary leash handle, thereby giving the animal an opportunity to lunge away from the owner and potentially free itself of the leash. The latter designs (in which open slack is created upon reducing the length of the leash) create tangling and tripping hazards with the excess leash that are unsafe to both dog and walker.
Consequently, whereas adjustable leashes have been developed to provide more discriminating control over a dog (or other animal), these leash designs exhibit one or more drawbacks that make them unsuitable. The drawbacks include: 1) required complicated folding to lessen the length of the leash; 2) required unclipping/re-clipping of leash parts; 3) required opening of the lead (handle loop) to shorten the leash; 4) required external parts that must be added to the leash in order to shorten it; 5) designs that create slack that hangs when the leash is shortened; 6) designs that require a change in hand position from the lead in order to adjust the leash length; 7) designs that create freely hanging loose ends of the leash when the leash is shortened; 8) designs wherein the size of the leash lead (handle loop) increases upon leash shortening; 9) designs that provide only a select number of set lengths for adjustment; 10) designs that have multiple parts that break, leaving a leash that is unusable; 11) designs that shorten the leash by only half (or less) of its original length; and, 12) designs that do not provide additional benefit to the walker, such as the ability to carry pet waste disposable bags, keys, water bottles, and the like.
Accordingly, there is an as of yet unmet need in the art for an adjustable leash design that: 1) does not require complicated folding to lessen the length of the leash; 2) does not require unclipping/re-clipping of leash parts; 3) does not require the opening of the lead (handle loop) to shorten the leash; 4) does not involve external parts that must be added to the leash in order to shorten it; 5) that takes up slack as the leash is shortened; 6) that does not require a change in hand position from the lead in order to adjust the leash length; 7) that does not create freely hanging loose ends of leash strap when the leash is shortened; 8) that does not cause the size of the leash lead (handle loop) to increase upon leash shortening; 9) that is not limited to a select number of set lengths for adjustment; 10) that does not have multiple parts that might break that would result in an unusable leash; 11) that can be shortened by more than half its original length; and, 12) that provides the additional benefit of providing means for the walker to carry objects along the walk, such as pet waste disposable bags, keys, water bottles, and the like.